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My name is Kim (hence the "Kim" in the username) and I just picked up a Kimball (again the ball in the username LOL) player piano. I have had it for 2 weeks now! I have to say I love it!! It is a great addition to the house and my kid (20yrs old) enjoys playing the player rolls. I do too, but I also want to learn to play the real thing too!

I am as new as they come when it comes to playing the Piano and reading music. So you could say I pretty much know nothing about both! LOL I am currently teaching myself how to play. I picked up 3 lesson books consisting of, Alfred's Basic Lesson Book Level 1A (for kids), Alfred's Adult All in One Course Level 1, and Afred's Basic Adult Piano Course Lesson Book Level One! The first and last mentioned books have CD's included. I am currently working out of the "kids" book. Figured I need to start at the beginning! I like it but I find the CD to be of no use. At least for the first couple songs that I listened to. The CD includes other instruments playing along with the songs I am trying to learn and it is hard to actually hear the 'Piano' playing to hear what the song is supposed to sound like with just the piano, like I am playing! Meaning I don't have other instruments playing with me, so I don't want to hear the other instruments, just want to hear the piano! Wish they made the CD's that way!

When I was in High School I took music and played the recorder. Back then I could read music. It has been about 5 years (ok, I am lying there! LOL), been about 20 some odd years since then. I also tried to learn Guitar about 2 years ago and tried to learn to read music again. That didn't last to long and I slowly gave it up! I could play the chords for Horse with No Name (can't remember name of the song, but sure you know what I'm talking about!) and that was about all.

About a year ago I tried to learn to play the keyboard. I had bought it for my son and he never played it, so I decided to try it. Problem was, I had no where to keep it, so it eventually got put away. During that adventure I learned where some of the keys were and how to place my hands for the "C Position". That little bit has actually helped me in now learning to play on my actual Piano.

The nice thing about this Piano is we made room for it and it can't be put away! LOL It is not in the best spot, but it will always be available to play. Also, if I get discouraged with my playing (practicing), I can always just slip in a roll and play beautiful music! That is also what has peaked my interest to play!! Hearing the rolls and want to eventually play those songs myself!

I would say the only thing I have concerns about is tempo. I am no good at keeping time. Not sure if that will come in time or not, but it is one of the reasons I am opting not to get a teacher yet. I want to learn to read the notes and play a few songs I recognize and know how fast or slow they are supposed be played, first, then I may get a teacher to go beyond that!

So far I can only play Old MacDonald and Jolly Old Saint Nicolas pretty good. That is just using the number system and the black keys. I am working on the white keys now and actually trying to learn the notes. Last night I was able to play what the book calls "A Happy Song" almost flawlessly! Which is pretty good for me! LOL I know it seems like peanuts to most of you! LOL If you are ever at a music store, it is page 34 of the "kids book" mentioned above!

I know this has been long but I have so much to share! LOL I will end here with some pics of my Piano!

Picking her up!

Hubby is a tow truck driver so we brought her home ourselves!

Here is a shot with her roll door open!

She is not in the best spot currently, but I am going to work on getting her on an inside wall asap! Right now she is in front of a North facing window. She won't get any sun, but I am worried about any drafts. Luckily it is spring now so the damp days are pretty much behind us! There is an a/c unit just to the left of her and I want to remedy that soon too! I plan on swapping areas with my desk, then she will be all nice and cozy!!

Well, that is all I can think of for now! LOL I know, it was a lot!

I hope to learn alot from the site so I am looking forward to looking around here!!

I would say the only thing I have concerns about is tempo. I am no good at keeping time. Not sure if that will come in time or not, but it is one of the reasons I am opting not to get a teacher yet. I want to learn to read the notes and play a few songs I recognize and know how fast or slow they are supposed be played, first, then I may get a teacher to go beyond that!"

I would think that if you want to play as the piano rolls do, then you will want to get a teacher. Also, it sounds like your putting the cart before the Ox in what your trying to accomplish before getting a teacher.

I would say get the teacher to help you learn the basics then determin if you want to personally go beyond that.

I also get the feeling, and I could be wrong, that you are wanting to see how long it takes you to pick up new things and based on that will determin if you think you can achieve your goals and make investing in a piano teacher worth while?

I would just encourage you to be patient with yourself and that a good teacher can actually increase your learning speed.

I also get the feeling, and I could be wrong, that you are wanting to see how long it takes you to pick up new things and based on that will determin if you think you can achieve your goals and make investing in a piano teacher worth while?

I would just encourage you to be patient with yourself and that a good teacher can actually increase your learning speed.

No you are not entirely wrong. I have done the "get the instrument, and then not follow through thing. I don't want to do that with this Piano. I would like to actually learn. I have thought about a teacher, but, 1. like I said above, I would like to learn a little before getting one. Basically I want to be able to know the basic notes first. 2. Time constraints. Although I haven't actually looked or talked to a teacher yet, I work weird hours so my weekdays are kind of weird. I work 3am - 11.30am then go back at 11pm to 7.30am. That is on Tues and Tues night. So Tuesday day is shot do to having to sleep. Then I do the same thing on Thurs and Thurs. night. So Thursday is shot. With that I try to practice before I go to sleep on those days, but depending on other life matters, I may not get to practice everyday! I'm worried that I won't be able to keep up having a teacher. I know, excuses excuses!

I guess I should talk to one before I start making excuses!!

I am going to Skips Music tomorrow to get a Metronome, so I will ask how their lessons work! Would be kind of nice to have someone come over to the house, but I'm sure that would cost a bit!

Being patient is one thing I am doing this time! I am not trying to go through the book in 2 days. What I did and am doing is, a couple pages till I feel comfortable with what I played. Then once I can do those 2 pages good, I go to the next page. Then the next day I go back to the beginning. Once I do that a few times and I can play the 'beginning' songs really good and they become to easy, I will not go back that far the next day.

I just got done practicing a few minutes ago and I am actually getting the notes down. Well, CDEFG and GFEDC that is! LOL What I need to start doing now is actually writing them down on my practice sheets. (Blank sheets with the lines and spaces.)

Kim--Welcome to the forums. I know what you mean about being patient. Several times when I have tried to learn a skill, I've overdone it in the beginning rather than just being consistent and pushing past any roadblocks. It sounds like you are determined to be patient, so I'm sure you'll be successful.

I'm with you about other instruments on the CD. I also want to hear just piano. I also like playing an easy duet with the second part on a CD. I don't find those too often, but they're more common in beginning books.

Welcome to the forum, Kim. Love the tow truck photo, and that's a gorgeous piano you have.

You can search the archives for the pros and cons of self-teaching. It sounds like your schedule presents real difficulties in terms of regular practice and arranging a lesson, so self-teaching may be the way for you to go right now. But if the only reason to avoid getting a teacher is that you want to know something first, you should just go ahead and schedule the lessons. Teachers would infinitely prefer to start a student from scratch, so that they can instruct on proper posture, hand positioning, etc. from the beginning, rather than take on a student who has picked up a lot of bad habits and needs to be retrained.

Meredith A
Full Member
Registered: 03/20/04
Posts: 120
Loc: San Diego, CA

Welcome Kim to the forum!

Piano lessons are usually once a week for half an hour, so don't be so quick to dismiss them. Also, as others have stated you can get a lot farther in a shorter period of time with a teacher. Don't feel bad about not knowing the notes. It's perfectly normal and you'll learn the notes as you are learning everything else with a teacher. But whatever you choose to do, you've got to have a lot of patience!!